Editors Note: We are very fortunate to have Adar Ben-Eliyahu, Ph.D. our new Methods Editor, sharing with us her considerable expertise on research methods. Dr. Ben-Eliyahu completed her doctorate in developmental psychology at Duke University, where she honed very strong skills in methods. She is currently a MacArthur Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Prior to arriving at Boston, Dr. Ben-Eliyahu was a post-doc in the Activation Lab at the Learning Research & Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Enjoy!

Understanding different types of research:
What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative approaches?

Adar Ben-Eliyahu, Ph.D.

In the world of research, there are two general approaches to gathering and reporting information: qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative approach to research is focused on understanding a phenomenon from a closer perspective. The quantitative approach tends to approximate phenomena from a larger number of individuals using survey methods. In this research corner, I describe methods that are generally used in each strand of research. Each approach has its benefits and detriments, and is more suitable to answering certain kinds of questions.

Qualitative Approach

The qualitative approach to gathering information focuses on describing a phenomenon in a deep comprehensive manner. This is generally done in interviews, open-ended questions, or focus groups. In most cases, a small number of participants participate in this type of research, because to carry out such a research endeavor requires many resources and much time. Interviews can vary from being highly structured and guided by open-ended questions, or be less structured and take the form of a conversational interview. Because of the investment in this type of research and the relatively few number of participants, findings from qualitative research cannot be generalized to the whole population. However, such research serves as a spring board for larger studies and deeper understanding that can inform theory, practice, and specific situations.

Example from youth mentoring research:

Ahrens, DuBois, Garrison, Spencer, Richardson, & Lozano (2011) used semi-structured interviews to outline themes of mentor characteristics and factors that youth perceive to influence mentor relationships. They spoke with participants on the phone and asked them open-ended questions. In identifying barriers and facilitators for relationship initiation and maintenance, Ahrens et al. provide important points of inquiry to be used in a larger scale survey-based research. One of the cautions in using qualitative approaches is that the findings apply only to this small group of 23 individuals. This research was crucial in providing evidence that these factors should be examined and further elaborated through quantitative methods prior to making any wide-range recommendation. (Click to read a summary of this study HERE).

Benefits of the qualitative approach:

Using open-ended questions and interviews allows researchers and practitioners to understand how individuals are doing, what their experiences are, and recognize important antecedents and outcomes of interest that might not surface when surveyed with pre-determined questions. Although qualitative research can be thought of as anecdotal, when pooled across a number of participants it provides a conceptual understanding and evidence that certain phenomena are occurring with particular groups or individuals.

Allows identification of new and untouched phenomena

Can provide a deeper understanding of mechanisms

Gives a one-on-one and anecdotal information

Provides verbal information that may sometimes be converted to numerical form

May reveal information that would not be identified through pre-determined survey questions

Limitations:

Cannot generalize to the general population

Challenges in applying statistical methods

Difficulty in assessing relations between characteristics

Quantitative Approach

The quantitative approach to gathering information focuses on describing a phenomenon across a larger number of participants thereby providing the possibility of summarizing characteristics across groups or relationships. This approach surveys a large number of individuals and applies statistical techniques to recognize overall patterns in the relations of processes. Importantly, the use of surveys can be done across groups. For example, the same survey can be used with a group of mentors that is receiving training (often called the intervention or experimental groups) and a group of mentors who does not receive such a training (a control group). It is then possible to compare these two groups on outcomes of interest, and determine what influence the training had. It is also relatively easy to survey people a number of times, thereby allowing the conclusion that a certain features (like matching) influence specific outcomes (well-being or achievement later in life).

Example from youth mentoring research:

Grossman and Rhodes (2002) examined duration of matched relationships in over 1,100 Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor-mentee matches. Because the information they used was survey-based and numerical, they were able to employ statistical techniques examining how duration of match was related to different outcomes of interest.

In using a variety of statistical techniques, they concluded that “youth who were in [matched mentoring] relationships that lasted a year or longer reported improvements in academic, psychosocial, and behavioral outcomes” (p. 213). If Grossman and Rhodes had not used survey-based quantitative research, they would not have had such a large sample of matches and therefore could not generalize to matches in general. In addition, with a smaller number of participants, it is challenging to apply some statistical techniques to examine emerging patterns across such a large group of mentored matches. The current rule of thumb to using complex statistical modeling is that you need a sample of at least 130 participants. However, for more complex modeling that controls for characteristics, a larger pool of participants is needed.

Benefits of the quantitative approach:

Using survey methods across a large group of individuals enables generalization. For example, if policy makers wanted to instantiate a policy about mentor training, they would likely require some evidence that this training actually works. Interviewing a few individuals, or conducting a focus group with forty matches, might be reflective of specific cases in which the mentoring training worked, however, it would not provide strong evidence that such training is beneficial overall. Stronger support for successful training would be evident if using quantitative methods.

Enables gathering information from a relatively large number of participant

Can conduct in a number of groups, allowing for comparison

Allows generalizing to broader population

Provides numerical or rating information

Informative for instantiating policy or guidelines

Lends to statistical techniques that allow determining relations between variables

Limitations:

Difficulty in recognizing new and untouched phenomena

Caution in interpretation without a control group

In summary, the qualitative and quantitative approaches to research allow a different perspective of situations or phenomena. These two main approaches to research are highly informative, especially if used in combination. Each approach has its benefits and detriments, and being aware of the methods used to gather information can help practitioners and policy-makers understand the extent to which research findings can be applied.

More straightforward explanations to essential research concepts & terms:

57 Comments on "On Methods: What’s the difference between qualitative and quantitative approaches?"

Hi madam Adar!hopeful you might be fine,i read you article on approaches to social research when i was looking on the difference between quantitative and qualitative research approaches basin on social issues,your work is helpful to us,i wish you long life and great success in educational career.

Really I would like to thanks sir for your wonderful explanation on both qualitative and quantitative approaches of research. I have learn a lot of things and used as a great input in my assignments as well. keep it your wonderful momentum.
saying this , i do have one question that i need to your reflection

Q1: According the sensationalists perspective a model is constructed by Morgan (1998), for combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies, how he was developed the the priority sequence model and what it does mean? what are the main components of the model?

Thanks , I’ve recently been searching for information approximately this topic for a
while and yours is the best I’ve found out till now.
But, what concerning the conclusion? Are you certain concerning the supply?

Hello Adar.
Thanks for the education but permit me to ask for this clarifications. First, is the TYPES of research different from the research Methods used in carrying out a research? Secondly, is survey the same as qualitative research? lastly, can questionnaires be administered either by mail or in person ( not as interview guide)in collecting data for a qualitative research? In other words are questionnaires a research instrument or data collecting instrument for a qualitative research?
Thanks for the opportunity to learn.

I’m going to assign this article to students in my “J494: Strategic Communication Research” course at the University of Oregon this term. We are transitioning our discussion from quant to qual next week and this will offer them great insights into how and why both types of research could be relevant and valuable.

Adar, I enjoyed much your article and the classification you made is very important in my opinion.
It seems that quantitative approach should follow the qualitative approach. Only careful selection of the variables of the qualitative analysis will result better quantitative results. The selection of the right variables will be based on a small sample of individuals that will help with identifying the proper variables or the promising ones to go through the analysis that could lead to selected action or treatment.
I would like to see more of articles in the area of analysis.

Thank you for your comment, Moti.
I think that in general, you are right that using qualitative research to inform quantitative research design is a good idea. However, researchers and practitioners don’t always have the means to do so. In these cases, choosing variable or characteristics based on research that has already been conducted is a good idea, and can be quite informative and efficient.
Best, Adar

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by Jean Rhodes Early in my career, I developed a conceptual model of youth mentoring that, to my surprise, has been a remarkably durable and useful heuristic. It has been applied to formal and natural mentoring relationships and used to explain everything from short-term, goal-focused relationships with classroom volunteers to lifelong bonds with devoted grandparents. […]

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